WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 –> 00:00:24.160 Good morning everyone and Merry Christmas to you all. 00:00:24.160 –> 00:00:30.240 Could you open your Bible please at 1st Timothy chapter 3 and verse 16. 00:00:30.240 –> 00:00:35.639 We are looking for the 4th and last time at this marvellous description of the Lord Jesus 00:00:35.639 –> 00:00:40.380 Christ who was born on that 1st Christmas morning. 00:00:40.380 –> 00:00:44.700 First Timothy chapter 3 and verse 16 we read these words, 00:00:44.700 –> 00:00:53.099 Great indeed we confess is the mystery of godliness, he was manifested in the flesh, 00:00:53.099 –> 00:01:00.720 vindicated by the spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on 00:01:00.720 –> 00:01:06.019 in the world, taken up in glory’. 00:01:06.019 –> 00:01:10.379 This verse very obviously is about godliness. 00:01:10.480 –> 00:01:19.180 God made you for himself and to be godly is to be God’s man or to be God’s woman. 00:01:19.180 –> 00:01:24.379 Godliness, in other words, is the life for which God made you and the life to which God 00:01:24.379 –> 00:01:26.160 calls you. 00:01:26.160 –> 00:01:31.660 And here we are told in this verse that how we become godly is a mystery. 00:01:31.660 –> 00:01:37.860 And we saw that in the bible that word mystery means a secret god has revealed, though it 00:01:37.879 –> 00:01:41.680 this full wonder is still to be made known. 00:01:41.680 –> 00:01:45.980 And what God has revealed is that godliness, the life for which you were made, the life 00:01:45.980 –> 00:01:51.120 to which you are called, is possible through Jesus Christ. 00:01:51.120 –> 00:01:53.860 Great is the mystery of godliness. 00:01:53.860 –> 00:02:00.480 He was manifested in the flesh and vindicated by the spirit. 00:02:00.480 –> 00:02:04.779 And so we have these six marvelous statements about the lord Jesus Christ. 00:02:04.779 –> 00:02:07.139 He is the mystery of godliness. 00:02:07.139 –> 00:02:11.559 He is the secret that God has revealed, though its full wonder is still to be made known 00:02:11.559 –> 00:02:16.660 of how you can come to live the life for which God made you, the life to which God calls 00:02:16.660 –> 00:02:17.940 you. 00:02:17.940 –> 00:02:20.460 We’re told here that he was seen by angels. 00:02:20.460 –> 00:02:24.220 We saw last time that angels are messengers. 00:02:24.220 –> 00:02:29.660 They announced the meaning of the baby in the manger and they announced the meaning 00:02:29.660 –> 00:02:31.240 of the empty tomb. 00:02:32.000 –> 00:02:37.479 In other words, they announced the incarnation and they announced the resurrection. 00:02:37.479 –> 00:02:42.460 The one who was born in the manger is Christ the Lord. 00:02:42.460 –> 00:02:49.520 The one who lay in the tomb is risen from the dead and is alive forever more. 00:02:49.520 –> 00:02:59.580 Therefore, we saw that Christian faith is not a matter of personal opinion or interpretation. 00:02:59.759 –> 00:03:08.479 Christian faith is not based on personal feelings or impulses or even experiences. 00:03:08.500 –> 00:03:15.500 Christian faith at its heart is believing what God has revealed regarding Jesus, which 00:03:15.500 –> 00:03:23.039 is, that He was manifested in the flesh and that He was vindicated by the spirit. 00:03:23.039 –> 00:03:29.100 And this Good News revealed by God concerning Jesus seen by angels and announced by them 00:03:29.139 –> 00:03:31.940 was proclaimed among the nations by the apostles. 00:03:32.220 –> 00:03:35.300 And of course this is still our calling today. 00:03:35.300 –> 00:03:42.460 You can say to any person at any time, any culture, any place, you can say, there is 00:03:42.460 –> 00:03:49.399 a life for which God made you, there is a life to which God calls you. 00:03:49.399 –> 00:03:54.539 And that life, which is a life of godliness, to be God’s man, God’s woman is made possible 00:03:54.539 –> 00:03:58.100 for you in and through Jesus Christ. 00:03:58.100 –> 00:04:02.139 It is the mystery of godliness. 00:04:02.139 –> 00:04:08.020 Now today we are going to look at how this life for which God made you and to which God 00:04:08.020 –> 00:04:11.660 calls you, how this life can be yours. 00:04:11.660 –> 00:04:17.500 And it’s in the last lines of this marvellous statement about Jesus that he was believed 00:04:17.500 –> 00:04:22.119 on in the world and taken up into glory. 00:04:22.119 –> 00:04:34.279 I want today that we should see clearly what believing means and where believing leads. 00:04:34.279 –> 00:04:37.640 Now let’s start here, what believing means. 00:04:37.640 –> 00:04:44.959 He was believed on in the world. 00:04:44.959 –> 00:04:50.480 Now the Bible says a very great deal about believing. 00:04:50.480 –> 00:05:01.640 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in 00:05:01.640 –> 00:05:09.100 him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 00:05:09.179 –> 00:05:16.519 So everlasting life can be yours by believing. 00:05:16.519 –> 00:05:18.660 By believing. 00:05:18.660 –> 00:05:21.660 In the Bible we also read these marvelous words. 00:05:21.660 –> 00:05:28.339 Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. 00:05:28.339 –> 00:05:37.260 So not only is everlasting life yours by believing, but to be saved from the final judgment of 00:05:37.480 –> 00:05:41.179 almighty God, that also is yours by believing. 00:05:41.179 –> 00:05:47.079 So to know what is meant by believing is therefore of supreme importance and that is what is 00:05:47.079 –> 00:05:49.339 before us today. 00:05:49.339 –> 00:05:55.399 I want to suggest to you from these verses, that believing in the Lord Jesus Christ involves 00:05:55.399 –> 00:06:01.179 three steps and I hope that each and every one of us in this service today will take 00:06:01.179 –> 00:06:06.339 these steps and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:06:07.179 –> 00:06:09.500 Number one. 00:06:09.500 –> 00:06:15.320 Believing means that you confess what God has revealed about Jesus. 00:06:15.320 –> 00:06:22.320 That’s the first step if you like in believing, that you confess what God has revealed about 00:06:22.320 –> 00:06:23.579 Jesus. 00:06:23.579 –> 00:06:28.380 Great indeed we confess is the mystery of godliness. 00:06:28.380 –> 00:06:32.540 He was manifested in the flesh and vindicated by the spirit. 00:06:32.540 –> 00:06:35.820 These words are a confession of faith. 00:06:36.179 –> 00:06:42.079 It is to believe, it is to confess what God has revealed concerning Jesus. 00:06:42.079 –> 00:06:48.959 We confess the mystery, we confess the secret that God has revealed and 00:06:48.959 –> 00:06:51.459 what has God revealed about Jesus? 00:06:51.459 –> 00:06:56.679 He was manifested in the flesh, he was vindicated by the spirit. 00:06:56.720 –> 00:07:02.559 So very simply, to believe in Jesus means that you confess 00:07:02.559 –> 00:07:06.140 what God has revealed about him. 00:07:06.140 –> 00:07:14.239 Yes, I believe that God became man in Jesus Christ, 00:07:14.239 –> 00:07:20.399 that the baby who lay in the manger is God with us, 00:07:20.399 –> 00:07:25.239 that he is indeed Lord of all, and therefore by definition 00:07:25.239 –> 00:07:28.959 must be Lord of me. 00:07:28.959 –> 00:07:34.000 Yes, I believe that he lived that perfect life 00:07:34.000 –> 00:07:37.700 that no one else has ever lived, and that he laid that 00:07:37.700 –> 00:07:43.220 perfect life down as a sacrifice for my sins. 00:07:43.220 –> 00:07:45.859 I believe that he rose from the dead, 00:07:45.859 –> 00:07:49.540 and he ascended into heaven, and I believe that one day 00:07:49.540 –> 00:07:54.220 he will come again, in power and in glory. 00:07:54.220 –> 00:07:57.700 Now, the Bible says very clearly, if you confess 00:07:57.700 –> 00:08:01.100 with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, 00:08:01.100 –> 00:08:03.140 and believe in your heart that God 00:08:03.140 –> 00:08:06.500 raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 00:08:06.500 –> 00:08:07.619 Notice the connection. 00:08:07.619 –> 00:08:10.420 You confess with your mouth, you believe in your heart. 00:08:10.420 –> 00:08:13.420 Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, 00:08:13.420 –> 00:08:15.820 believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, 00:08:15.820 –> 00:08:16.760 you will be saved. 00:08:16.760 –> 00:08:19.500 You notice the connection between confessing and believing, 00:08:19.540 –> 00:08:22.119 because in the first instance, 00:08:22.119 –> 00:08:25.140 believing is a matter of confessing 00:08:25.140 –> 00:08:28.619 what God has revealed about Jesus. 00:08:28.619 –> 00:08:30.700 So I want to ask you very simply this morning, 00:08:30.700 –> 00:08:33.979 are you ready to take the first step in believing? 00:08:34.900 –> 00:08:38.820 I confess what God has revealed about Jesus. 00:08:38.820 –> 00:08:40.840 That he was manifested in the flesh, 00:08:40.840 –> 00:08:43.539 vindicated by the Spirit, 00:08:43.539 –> 00:08:46.880 that Jesus is the Sovereign Lord and the Savior 00:08:46.880 –> 00:08:49.640 who was born into the world, died on the cross 00:08:49.640 –> 00:08:52.520 and rose again from the dead. 00:08:52.520 –> 00:08:54.919 Believing means that you confess 00:08:54.919 –> 00:08:58.719 what God has revealed about Jesus. 00:08:59.599 –> 00:09:00.419 Second, 00:09:01.460 –> 00:09:03.479 believing means 00:09:03.479 –> 00:09:06.400 that you stop trusting 00:09:06.400 –> 00:09:09.080 in your own attempts 00:09:09.080 –> 00:09:10.919 to be godly. 00:09:10.919 –> 00:09:11.960 Now remember, 00:09:11.960 –> 00:09:16.239 godliness is the life for which God made you 00:09:16.239 –> 00:09:18.719 and it is the life to which God calls you. 00:09:19.880 –> 00:09:24.359 But what does this godly life look like? 00:09:24.359 –> 00:09:27.679 Well, God lays it out in the Ten Commandments, 00:09:28.619 –> 00:09:30.919 and here’s the first of them. 00:09:30.919 –> 00:09:33.760 You shall have no 00:09:33.760 –> 00:09:35.280 other gods 00:09:35.280 –> 00:09:36.559 before 00:09:36.559 –> 00:09:38.159 me. 00:09:38.159 –> 00:09:41.239 Now you see, that’s the essence of godliness, isn’t it? 00:09:41.239 –> 00:09:44.500 To be godly is to be God’s man. 00:09:44.500 –> 00:09:46.900 It is to be God’s woman. 00:09:46.900 –> 00:09:49.880 God made you for himself. 00:09:49.880 –> 00:09:54.280 To be godly means that you are wholly devoted to him, 00:09:55.219 –> 00:09:58.719 or as Jesus put it, that you love the Lord your God 00:09:58.719 –> 00:10:01.580 with all your heart, 00:10:01.580 –> 00:10:03.619 with all your soul, 00:10:03.619 –> 00:10:06.140 with all your mind, 00:10:06.140 –> 00:10:08.419 and with all your strength. 00:10:08.419 –> 00:10:12.599 Now here’s how you get to believing in Jesus. 00:10:16.479 –> 00:10:20.679 You take an honest look at your own life 00:10:20.679 –> 00:10:24.359 in the light of the life for which God made you 00:10:24.359 –> 00:10:27.119 and the life to which he calls you. 00:10:27.119 –> 00:10:30.140 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, 00:10:30.140 –> 00:10:31.400 with all your soul, 00:10:31.400 –> 00:10:32.880 with all your mind, 00:10:32.880 –> 00:10:35.119 and with all your strength. 00:10:35.840 –> 00:10:39.659 And when you take an honest look at your own life 00:10:39.659 –> 00:10:41.940 in the light of the life to which God calls you 00:10:41.940 –> 00:10:45.140 you will come to this conclusion. 00:10:45.140 –> 00:10:47.960 I am nowhere close to being godly. 00:10:49.799 –> 00:10:51.679 I haven’t even done the first thing 00:10:51.679 –> 00:10:53.679 that God calls me to do. 00:10:54.700 –> 00:10:58.700 My life is stretched out between competing loves. 00:11:00.440 –> 00:11:02.359 I love myself too much. 00:11:02.400 –> 00:11:04.559 I love this world too much. 00:11:06.960 –> 00:11:09.140 I love this life too much. 00:11:12.500 –> 00:11:16.659 And when you become convinced that you are not godly 00:11:18.979 –> 00:11:21.900 you will say, well, this is no use. 00:11:23.460 –> 00:11:26.059 I cannot continue to put confidence 00:11:26.059 –> 00:11:29.340 in my own feeble attempts to live a godly life 00:11:29.340 –> 00:11:32.219 because these attempts at their best 00:11:33.059 –> 00:11:36.400 fall pitifully short of the life for which God made me 00:11:36.400 –> 00:11:39.400 and the life to which God calls me. 00:11:40.179 –> 00:11:42.960 That’s how you will come to believe in Jesus. 00:11:42.960 –> 00:11:44.479 You won’t put your trust in Jesus 00:11:44.479 –> 00:11:48.059 until you’ve given up trusting in yourself. 00:11:49.140 –> 00:11:50.900 Now all over the world, friends, 00:11:50.900 –> 00:11:53.340 people are pursuing different paths 00:11:53.340 –> 00:11:56.219 in an attempt to be godly. 00:11:56.219 –> 00:11:59.880 Each of the world’s religions offers a different path. 00:11:59.919 –> 00:12:02.099 They don’t all tell you what you must do. 00:12:03.340 –> 00:12:05.159 There are rites to be observed, 00:12:05.159 –> 00:12:07.000 there are pilgrimages to be made, 00:12:07.000 –> 00:12:08.880 there are sacrifices to be offered, 00:12:08.880 –> 00:12:12.200 there are evils to be opposed. 00:12:12.200 –> 00:12:15.919 The gospel says something completely different. 00:12:16.919 –> 00:12:20.640 What God says to us in Scripture is you’re not godly. 00:12:21.200 –> 00:12:26.679 And what’s more, you don’t have it in you to become godly. 00:12:27.460 –> 00:12:28.719 And 00:12:28.719 –> 00:12:34.059 that, of course, goes against the grain of all that we are taught in our culture. 00:12:34.080 –> 00:12:35.780 Our culture is always saying to us, 00:12:35.780 –> 00:12:41.359 Now you’re a good person and you can do whatever you set your mind to do. 00:12:42.039 –> 00:12:43.380 And we like that message. 00:12:43.380 –> 00:12:45.159 So we believe it and we say yes, 00:12:45.159 –> 00:12:47.119 I have integrity, 00:12:47.119 –> 00:12:48.580 I tell the truth, 00:12:49.039 –> 00:12:50.419 I’m a good person. 00:12:51.340 –> 00:12:59.979 And you know, the more ethical you are the harder it is to believe that you are not godly. 00:13:02.780 –> 00:13:04.780 But if you confess 00:13:05.419 –> 00:13:11.280 that Jesus really is God with us, suffering manifested in the flesh and vindicated by the spirit, at some point 00:13:11.280 –> 00:13:16.059 you are going to yourself if you confess that Jesus is who he says he is. 00:13:17.380 –> 00:13:18.599 If I confess Jesus, 00:13:18.940 –> 00:13:26.099 I can no longer hold on to a view of myself that is a direct contradiction to why he came into the world. 00:13:28.820 –> 00:13:34.239 You shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. 00:13:37.659 –> 00:13:39.900 So here’s my question. 00:13:39.900 –> 00:13:45.400 If you confess what God has revealed about Jesus. That’s the first step. 00:13:45.520 –> 00:13:47.599 That’s the first step. 00:13:47.599 –> 00:13:55.960 Are you ready today to take the second step, which is to stop trusting your own attempts 00:13:55.960 –> 00:13:58.580 to be Godly? 00:13:58.580 –> 00:14:02.119 And I will tell you, when you stop trusting what’s not working, you will know the most 00:14:02.119 –> 00:14:05.119 enormous relief. 00:14:05.119 –> 00:14:08.640 Believing means first, that you confess what God has revealed about Jesus. 00:14:08.640 –> 00:14:13.400 Second, that you stop trusting your own attempts to be Godly. 00:14:14.140 –> 00:14:16.479 You say, where do you go from there? 00:14:16.479 –> 00:14:19.599 What are you going to put in place of trusting in yourself? 00:14:19.599 –> 00:14:23.419 That’s the third step in what it means to believe. 00:14:23.419 –> 00:14:28.239 Believing means that you trust Jesus for godliness. 00:14:28.239 –> 00:14:30.320 And isn’t that the whole point of this verse? 00:14:30.320 –> 00:14:36.200 Indeed we confess is the mystery of godliness, the secret that God has revealed of how you 00:14:36.200 –> 00:14:38.739 can become the person God calls you to be. 00:14:38.739 –> 00:14:40.299 And the answer is it in Jesus. 00:14:40.299 –> 00:14:47.679 He was manifested in the flesh and vindicated by the spirit. 00:14:47.679 –> 00:14:55.760 When you believe, Jesus becomes yours and you become his. 00:14:56.760 –> 00:15:08.460 Faith unites you to Jesus Christ so that when he is yours all that is in him 00:15:08.460 –> 00:15:15.700 becomes yours as well. Now let me try and illustrate that in this way 00:15:15.739 –> 00:15:26.780 Something very, very wonderful happened in Britain this year. An American became 00:15:26.780 –> 00:15:33.500 a member of the royal family. I tell you I felt like the two halves of my whole 00:15:33.500 –> 00:15:39.299 life were being brought together on this marvelous occasion when Meghan Markle 00:15:39.299 –> 00:15:46.340 married Prince Harry on a perfect summer’s day watched by a staggering 00:15:46.340 –> 00:15:55.820 1.9 billion people around the world. Now, think about this. 00:15:55.820 –> 00:16:05.099 Harry is royal by birth. Meghan is royal by marriage. 00:16:05.099 –> 00:16:15.219 Meghan’s royalty is his own. Her royalty is in him and through him and by virtue 00:16:15.219 –> 00:16:24.619 of her union with him. Meghan would not be royal without Harry, but when she 00:16:24.619 –> 00:16:34.919 became one with him, what was true of him became true of her. Now, we’re looking at 00:16:34.919 –> 00:16:40.539 the question, how can you be godly? The answer is Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ 00:16:40.539 –> 00:16:51.479 alone is godly in himself. We become godly in him, through him, and by virtue 00:16:51.479 –> 00:16:59.400 of union with him. You would not and could not be godly without Jesus, but 00:16:59.440 –> 00:17:07.699 when you become one with him, what is true of him becomes true of you as well. 00:17:07.699 –> 00:17:14.520 So, here’s my question. If you confess what God has revealed about Jesus, and if 00:17:14.520 –> 00:17:19.599 in the light of that you have stopped trusting in your own attempts to be 00:17:19.599 –> 00:17:26.359 godly, are you ready then to take the third step of believing today? Which is 00:17:26.619 –> 00:17:32.459 trust Jesus for what you do not have, and to find in him the godliness that is in 00:17:32.459 –> 00:17:39.219 him alone. Actually, this analogy of marriage, that the Bible uses many many 00:17:39.219 –> 00:17:44.780 times to help us understand union with the Lord Jesus Christ. It is such a 00:17:44.780 –> 00:17:52.060 helpful picture. Every marriage involves consent. Will you take this man to be 00:17:52.060 –> 00:17:56.119 your lawful wedded husband? I will. Will you take this woman to be your lawful 00:17:56.119 –> 00:18:02.239 wedded wife? I will. Involves consent. Me put it to you 00:18:02.239 –> 00:18:08.699 this way, that by coming into the world, living that perfect life, and then by 00:18:08.699 –> 00:18:13.099 going to that Cross where he laid down his life for us, 00:18:13.099 –> 00:18:21.560 Jesus was consenting to be your Savior and to be your Lord, and to be made one 00:18:22.099 –> 00:18:29.719 with you, and when you believe, you are consenting to be made one with him, to be 00:18:29.719 –> 00:18:35.959 in him, so that that which is true of him alone becomes true of you in him, by 00:18:35.959 –> 00:18:45.000 virtue of your union with him. Here’s what believing means. It means that you 00:18:45.000 –> 00:18:50.880 confess what God has revealed about Jesus. It means that in the light of that, 00:18:50.880 –> 00:18:55.680 you stop trusting your own attempts to be godly, and in the light of that, you 00:18:55.680 –> 00:19:05.079 start trusting Jesus for godliness. That’s what believing means. And one more 00:19:05.079 –> 00:19:10.079 thing, more briefly today, I want you to see from this marvelous verse, where 00:19:10.079 –> 00:19:21.680 believing leads. Look at it… He was taken up in glory. 00:19:21.680 –> 00:19:27.079 Now we read from the Book of Acts how forty days after the Resurrection, Jesus 00:19:27.079 –> 00:19:33.239 ascended into heaven. We read these words from Acts chapter 1 in verse 9, he was 00:19:33.239 –> 00:19:40.699 lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight. And here we’re reading in 00:19:40.699 –> 00:19:45.339 1st Timothy in chapter 3, that Jesus who was manifested in the flesh, born in that 00:19:45.339 –> 00:19:55.119 manger, Jesus who rose from the dead, he was taken up in glory. Now you say what 00:19:55.119 –> 00:20:00.560 does that mean for us today? Well listen to what Jesus says to his 00:20:00.880 –> 00:20:07.579 disciples, because those who believe will one day also like Jesus be taken up. 00:20:07.579 –> 00:20:18.040 Jesus said this. Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in 00:20:18.040 –> 00:20:25.439 me. Then to those who believe he says this, Now I am going to prepare a place 00:20:25.660 –> 00:20:33.979 for you, and then he says this I will come again, and I will take you to be 00:20:33.979 –> 00:20:38.959 with myself that where I am, that’s in glory, 00:20:38.959 –> 00:20:52.520 you may be also. Christ was taken up in glory and if you believe by union with 00:20:52.839 –> 00:20:59.699 Christ what happened to Him, will one day happen to you. You will be taken up in 00:20:59.699 –> 00:21:06.760 glory he says I will take you to myself that where I am you also will be. And 00:21:06.760 –> 00:21:12.900 this is the ultimate purpose for which Jesus Christ came into the world just 00:21:12.900 –> 00:21:19.560 before he went to the cross. He declared it, Father, he says, I desire that they 00:21:19.560 –> 00:21:27.479 also whom you have given me may be with me where I am to see my glory. 00:21:27.479 –> 00:21:31.619 Jesus says I’m going to the cross for this reason, I want them to be with me 00:21:31.619 –> 00:21:41.479 and I want them to see my glory. Think of what that means for you that what 00:21:41.479 –> 00:21:48.439 happens to Jesus manifested in the flesh, now taken up into glory. One day that’s 00:21:48.500 –> 00:21:51.699 going to happen to you if you believe in him. That’s the promise that’s being 00:21:51.699 –> 00:22:00.260 given here. What believing means, where believing leads. He was manifested in the 00:22:00.260 –> 00:22:12.219 flesh that means that nails being driven through his hands felt exactly as it 00:22:12.219 –> 00:22:18.500 would feel to you if a nail was driven through your hand. He was manifested in 00:22:18.500 –> 00:22:29.040 the flesh so he knew in the flesh what it was to be weary as you do and he knew 00:22:29.119 –> 00:22:42.579 what it was to suffer as you do. But now he is taken up in glory and he has a 00:22:42.579 –> 00:22:48.800 resurrection body that cannot suffer, it will never tire and it will never age 00:22:48.800 –> 00:22:54.000 and one day that resurrection body will be yours if you believe in the Lord 00:22:54.219 –> 00:23:00.140 Christ. he was manifested in the flesh 00:23:00.140 –> 00:23:09.079 that means also that he knew great grief and sorrow that burdens were carried in 00:23:09.079 –> 00:23:16.880 his own soul and weighed upon his mind and his heart as you experience that too 00:23:16.880 –> 00:23:23.939 he was even known as the man of sorrows but he’s not the man of sorrows now no 00:23:23.939 –> 00:23:33.060 now he is taken up in glory where there is no sorrow and when you are with him 00:23:33.060 –> 00:23:41.859 he will wipe every tear away from your eyes Jesus was manifested in the flesh 00:23:41.859 –> 00:23:49.839 and he came into the world to be our sin bearer and when he carried our sins he 00:23:50.699 –> 00:23:57.979 plunged into the deepest darkness in which he cried out my god my god why 00:23:57.979 –> 00:24:07.699 have you forsaken me and you know what it is to ask why and you know what it is 00:24:07.699 –> 00:24:13.239 to find yourself in great darkness and to wonder and perhaps even to fear has 00:24:14.239 –> 00:24:23.400 God actually left me but Jesus is not in darkness now no he is taken up in glory 00:24:23.400 –> 00:24:31.599 and he says to all who believe one day you will be with me and see my glory and 00:24:31.599 –> 00:24:39.780 brother sister when you see his glory you will no longer be asking why Jesus 00:24:39.959 –> 00:24:47.300 manifested in the flesh he took our human flesh because he was going to the 00:24:47.300 –> 00:25:00.239 cross and he died they laid his body in a tomb but he’s not in the to now he has 00:25:00.239 –> 00:25:06.439 taken up into glory where death no longer has power over him he lives in 00:25:06.439 –> 00:25:12.640 the power of an endless life and if you believe in him that endless life will be 00:25:12.640 –> 00:25:22.839 yours also great indeed we confess is the mystery of godliness he was 00:25:22.839 –> 00:25:24.859 manifested in the flesh 00:25:24.859 –> 00:25:29.680 he was vindicated by the spirit angels announced 00:25:29.680 –> 00:25:35.400 his incarnation and his resurrection apostles proclaimed the good news of 00:25:35.479 –> 00:25:42.640 jesus christ to the nation’s why so that by believing the godliness that is in 00:25:42.640 –> 00:25:48.540 him and him alone might become yours so that you might begin to pursue the life 00:25:48.540 –> 00:25:52.579 for which God made you and the life to which God calls you and that when he 00:25:52.579 –> 00:26:03.099 comes or calls for you you will be taken up in glory 00:26:03.099 –> 00:26:13.479 let’s pray together father we bless you today that when godliness was not found 00:26:13.520 –> 00:26:23.000 in us Christ came so that we might find it in him Thank you that he was 00:26:23.000 –> 00:26:30.920 manifested in the flesh vindicated by the spirit seen by angels proclaimed 00:26:30.920 –> 00:26:42.359 among the nations grant today that we may believe in him that by his grace we 00:26:42.359 –> 00:26:52.000 too may one day be taken up in glory through Jesus Christ our Lord to whom be 00:26:52.000 –> 00:26:58.719 all praise and glory and God’s people who believed together said Amen 00:26:59.119 –> 00:27:03.780 you’ve been listening to a sermon with Pastor Colin Smith of open the Bible to 00:27:03.780 –> 00:27:07.000 contact us call us at one eight seven seven 00:27:07.000 –> 00:27:14.119 365 or visit our website open the Bible org
